Researchers create first true 3D processor, turns chips into cubes

While others have touted 3D processors in the past, a group of researchers from the University of Rochester are now claiming that they've developed the first true 3D processor (with a little help from MIT), and they've got it running at a decent 1.4GHz, no less. Dubbed the "Rochester Cube," the processor was apparently designed from the ground up to optimize all key processing functions vertically, unlike other 3D processors which simply stack a bunch of regular processors on top of one another. Among other things, the researchers say that allows the processors to be shrunk to as much as a tenth their size of their traditional counterparts, while also increasing their speed tenfold. Unsurprisingly, they aren't making any promises as to when such a magical processor might find its way into some actual products, but whenever it does, it'll no doubt be facing some stiff competition from some other purported processor breakthroughs.